1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to therapeutic agents for diabetic gangrene.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Diabetic gangrene usually appears superveniently in patients of poorly controllable advanced diabetes and often occurs in endings of the extremities such as fingers and toes. Onset frequency of the disease has been increasing year by year.
Although it is believed that onset of the disease is triggered by defective blood flow due to arteriosclerotic lesion or is a vascular disease at peripheral smaller blood vessels, there is no established concept at present.
For treating diabetic gangrene, conservative treatment and surgical treatment have heretofore been applied. Trials of the conservative treatment include physical treatment such as bathing of the affected parts or kinesiotherapy and local treatment by application of various ointment such as antibiotics, local blood anticoagulant, fibrinolysin or insulin. In pharmacotherapy there are mainly employed peripheral vasodilator such as prostaglandin formulations. These therapeutics, however, have not been established as reliable.
In cases where the conservative treatment is ineffective, surgical treatment such as bypassing, sympathetic ganglionectomy in limbus, vascular transplantation and amputation is applied but prognosis after amputation of the lower extremities is very bad.